40m Indonesians cannot speak 'Bahasa': Expert<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): As the government prepares to launch a campaign
\nencouraging the proper and correct use of the Indonesian
\nlanguage, a linguistics expert has claimed that as many as 40
\nmillion of the country's 193 million people have no knowledge of
\nthe national language.<\/p>\n
Bahasa Indonesia, the country's official language since 1928,
\nis still not known by a large segment of Indonesian society,
\nAnton Moeliono said.<\/p>\n
The citizens who cannot speak the Indonesian language have
\nbecome part of a "marginalized community which cannot enjoy the
\nfruits of 50 years of Indonesia's independence as yet," he said,
\nas quoted by Antara.<\/p>\n
Their inability to understand Bahasa, he said, caused them
\ndifficulties in using the telephone, watching television and
\nlocal movies and in reading Indonesian publications.<\/p>\n
"Since it is difficult for them to communicate in the
\nIndonesian language, they will also find it arduous to
\nparticipate in development and to enjoy its results," he said.<\/p>\n
The campaign to use proper and correct Bahasa Indonesia will
\nbe formally launched by President Soeharto on May 20 to coincide
\nwith National Awakening Day.<\/p>\n
The first goal of the campaign is to stop the increasing use
\nof foreign terms, encouraging the use of local words in their
\nplace.<\/p>\n
Anton, the former head of the National Language Center, said
\nthat the mass media could play a major role in promoting and
\nfamiliarizing people with good and correct Bahasa Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The media, he said, should help to create an atmosphere in
\nwhich Indonesians are "proud to speak Bahasa Indonesia".<\/p>\n
He said he found it difficult to understand why many
\nIndonesian mass media made extensive use of foreign terms of
\nwhich there were Indonesian equivalents.<\/p>\n
For example, Anton said, the Indonesian press should use the
\nphrase "Balai Sidang Hilton Jakarta" rather than "Jakarta Hilton
\nConvention Center" and 'daftar tunggu' instead of "waiting list".<\/p>\n
"I think this (use of foreign terms) has got do to with an
\narrogance in speaking," he said.<\/p>\n
Anton hailed the government's recent efforts to have the
\nforeign terms used by companies and developers for housing
\nestates and shopping centers changed to their Indonesian
\nequivalents.<\/p>\n
He said that the excuse that Indonesian words were less
\nattractive to prospective consumers was groundless because, he
\nsaid, "the marketability of a housing estate is determined not by
\nits name but by its location."<\/p>\n
"So even if a place is called 'paradise', if it is continually
\nflooded, it will never be marketable. On the other hand, people
\nwill fight to get a house in an area called 'Pondok Cabe' if it
\nis located in a strategically," he said. Pondok Cabe, a district
\nin Jakarta's southern outskirts, literally means "chili hut".<\/p>\n
Anton criticized Indonesians who prefer to speak to visiting
\nforeigners in a foreign language rather than in Bahasa Indonesia.
\n"They are in Indonesia, so they should learn to speak the
\nlanguage. If we continue to go along with them, when will we be
\nthe master in our own country?" he said.<\/p>\n
Minister of Information Harmoko, separately, called for wider
\nuse of Bahasa, saying that only if the language is used precisely
\nand correctly will it be able to survive and develop.<\/p>\n
Harmoko said a language was a universal instrument of
\ncommunication among its users. He said language determined the
\nculture of a nation. "We must be grateful that, 17 years before
\nour independence was proclaimed, we had already pledged to use
\nBahasa Indonesia as our national language," he said, as quoted by
\nAntara.<\/p>\n
The Youth Pledge, which was made by the nation's founding
\nfathers on Oct. 28, 1928, proclaimed Bahasa Indonesia to be a
\nlanguage of unity. (pwn)<\/p>",
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